The Brazilian Business Council for Sustainable Development (CEBDS) launched this Wednesday (21/5) the Sustainable Purchasing Manual, a project carried out with consulting from EY (formerly Ernst & Young) and with the collaboration of 21 large companies active in the area of sustainability. The material aims to guide and raise awareness among companies about the best socio-environmental practices for the purchasing process in the supply chain.
Marina Grossi, president of CEBDS, highlighted that the manual highlights to businesspeople the need to adopt a systemic view of the purchasing process and more transparent communication with the company’s internal areas and with suppliers and customers. “The development of the manual contributes to the purchasing department of companies and how they should do it in a sustainable manner. We understand that purchasing professionals will have an important tool in their hands,” she stated.
The new guide provides the steps and methods for a sustainable purchasing strategy in business. The criteria range from an analysis that values companies in the chain that stand out in terms of sustainability to the monitoring and training of these suppliers. “Each company can use the manual as a guide for its purchasing process and adapt it in the best way possible to its business,” added Marina.
The organization of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro developed a pilot sustainability project for the entire supply chain, and João Saravia presented the first results of the application of all the rationale proposed in the Manual. “CEBDS understood the need in the market and the guide provides relevant information. After using it, we found that, in the case of Rio 2016, our process, including with regard to the inclusion of sustainability, is within the best market practices,” stated João Saravia.
Mário Lima, from EY, stated that the manual provides companies with the most robust information on the subject, a demand that is already on the agenda of many companies. “Our biggest challenge is to show that the traditional purchasing process based on commercial criteria and the lowest price can communicate with aspects of sustainability”, he states. The idea was to create a guide with clear language that shows how a sustainable purchasing chain brings greater image gains, risk reduction and, consequently, greater operational efficiency.
The Manual provides an action plan that tells the buyer exactly what to do, with practices that are consistent with their business and within the companies’ operational processes. “The savings in the medium and long term are visible: more sustainable suppliers generate fewer risks and a more reliable chain,” said Lima.
The Sustainable Purchasing Manual was created collaboratively by participants. The tool responds to the needs of the different areas involved (buyer, requesting area and approvers) to seek consensus for the decision to select a supplier, which is not always based on commercial criteria.
Among the participants are: Allianz, AngloAmerican, Braskem, Casa da Moeda do Brasil, Coca-Cola, Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games – Rio2016, Dow, Ecofrotas and Ecobenefits, Intelligent Forests, Konrad Adenauer Stiftung Foundation, Furnas, GE, Abril Group, BB Group and Mapfre, Boticário Group, Itaú Unibanco, L'Oréal, Panasonic, Petrobras, Renova Energia and Siemens.
